New ‘Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ Trailer Sure Looks a Lot Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Is it just me, or have you also totally forgotten a new adaptation of The Nutcracker was opening this fall? Here to remind you of all the sugar plum fairy magic and fantastical adventures to come is a new trailer for the Disney movie.

The classic ballet has been adapted again and again over the years for the big and small screens, but The Nutcracker and the Four Realms looks a lot like some recent family-oriented fantasy movies. The new trailer looks like The Chronicles of Narnia meets Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, and most concerning, the plot sounds a heck of a lot like the studio’s sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass. A realm threatened by evil, a young girl who must save the magical kingdom, an actor caked in white face makeup acting all sorts of kooky; yep we’ve definitely seen this one before.

But hey, I’m still optimistic, mostly for the cast, which finds Interstellar‘s Mackenzie Foy as Clara, Helen Mirren as a villain named Mother Ginger, Keira Knightley (with a super high voice) as a sugar plum fairy, and Richard E. Grant with icicle whiskers and bangs. The visuals also look pretty impressive in the trailer; if anything there’s some incredible costumes and production design to look forward to. Here’s the full synopsis:

All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key – a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world. Starring Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Disney’s new holiday feature film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, and inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale.

Most interestingly, the film has two directors credits, a huge rarity for a film with a non-directing team (like the Wachowskis, the Coens, etc). When the film underwent reshoots last year and original director Lasse Hallstrom (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat) was unavailable to return, Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston took over. Then the two mutually decided to share the credit. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which also stars Morgan Freeman, newcomer Jayden Fowora-Knight, Misty Copeland, and Matthew Macfadyen, hits theaters on November 2.